By Kathryn Lang

“Your work is always on time and on count.”  I had to smile.  Never in my life would I have thought this would be a compliment.  Normal acts of business should be expected.  Being on time and following the described job should be the rule and not the exception.  His paper was new, so I decided to email a few others that I had worked with in the past.

It seems that following the job, getting it in on time and having basic good grammar were some of the top problems facing editors around the globe.  Freelance writers may be artists, but freelance writers are also running a business.

Developing Professionalism in the Art of Freelance Writing

1.    Be reliable – getting work in on time is important.  Editors need time to go over the work. The articles may need to be trimmed or tweaked to fit into the publication.  Additional writing may be necessary to make the article right or complete.

Being reliable will not only get you a one time paycheck but it will likely give you more paychecks through the same editor and other referrals.

2.    Follow the guidelines – every job will come with a description.  It should tell you what to write, what slant to take and how many words should be included.  The job description might also include limitations (like no bullets) or requests (like use a quote or add links).

If the job description is not clear then ask questions up front.  Writing is one of those times when more is not necessarily better.  Editors want what they ask for and giving them the thing that is requested will make you top on their lists for future assignments.

3.    Check spelling and grammar – the article you writing may be going to an editor but the less that editor has to do then the more that editor will want to work with you in the future.  You want to write right and not right write.  Little errors will make a big difference when it comes time to find writers in the future.

Three simple steps can make your writing stand out from the crowd.  Being on time, doing what is asked and providing clean work are the things that will make editors come to your door.  Keep your creative style but make that style professional so that your writing will become a business that provides you with the income to fund your dreams.

*****

Kathryn Lang is a freelance writer in Alabama. Her work has been published in regional papers, travel magazines and national religous publications along with multiple websites. She has been writing for pleasure since she was able to write and writing as a career for the last several years.

www.successfulfreelancewriter.com
www.proverbs31life.com
www.kathrynlang.com

Posted under Articles and Tips, Marketing Your Freelance Business

Martha Beck wrote an article in this month’s Oprah about cultivating your creative, right brain, side.  It’s an interesting article and if you have the opportunity to take a look at it, do.  However, one comment she made got me thinking.  She compared this generation to the Industrial Revolution.  Instead of inventing processes and easier, better ways of doing things, however we’re creating content.  It’s a Content Revolution.

Think about it.

There are, according to information published in mid 2008 by Technorati, 112 million blogs and over 175,000 new blogs every day.  Over 1.6 million posts are published each day.

And that’s just blogs.  That doesn’t include websites, articles, social networking posts and audio and video posts.

It seems then, that everyone is participating in the content revolution.

What does that mean to you and your freelance writing business?

It means two things really.

1.  There is a lot of competition

2.  There is a lot of opportunity

However, in order to take advantage of this opportunity, specialization is a must.

Specialization provides you with the opportunity to:

• Fine tune your skills
• Stay on top of your industry
• Market yourself effectively and efficiently
• Become the go to expert
• Charge high fees for your services (the more in demand you are the more you can charge)
• Pick and choose projects you want to work on.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll take a look at how to specialize and a few niche industries that are looking for good writers.  We’re talking about specialties that are in demand and paying high fees right now. Be sure to subscribe if you want immediate access to this information as it’s posted.  We’ll have resources you can use immediately to build and grow your freelance writing business.

Posted under Articles and Tips, Marketing Your Freelance Business

Whatever your chosen writing niche, getting a byline or three from notable print publications can be a great way to boost your writing portfolio, build credibility and recognition.  Freelance writers have a wide variety of media in which to submit articles. They can choose from magazines, trade journals, or newspapers. You may also decide to do most of you writing for online publications.

If you’re just starting out or you’re interested in delving into print media, these tips for writing feature articles will help you meet your goal of freelance writing success. Read More…

Posted under Articles and Tips, Marketing Your Freelance Business

New freelance writers are excited when they are hired by a client. Unfortunately, even though you have regular clients, when you’re just starting you may not have the amount of work you’d like. Learning how to write effective resource boxes can actually help you gain clients.

Article marketing is something every freelance writer probably wants to become involved in. By writing articles that you can place on article directory websites such as Ezinearticles.com, Buzzle.com, or any one of over 1,000 other directories you have the potential to reach many potential clients and your resource box is the way to do it!

What is a resource box (author bio or signature box) and why is it so important?

Read More…

Posted under Articles and Tips, Marketing Your Freelance Business